Rumble Pants XIII: Elite Eight
By popular demand, Rumble Pants is back! What is Rumble Pants? Well, the Panteon has decided to play at god once more. We take a few select comic characters and pit them against one another for our amusement, but we figured why keep the fun all to ourselves? So we decided on a format that would require your participation and will hopefully provide amusement for you at the same time. The format is a single elimination tournament with weekly rounds decided by you, the reader. Just keep reading to help decide the ultimate fate of some of your favorite comic characters!
The all Batman round continues! The first round decided quickly, aside from a down-to-the-wire decision between Adam West (campy) and Michael Keaton (gothy), and goth won the day! (Now there’s a phrase you don’t see much.) There were also some pretty brutal beatings, with Dark Knight Batman proving the more popular of the future Batmen, the original Bob Kane grim Dark Knight stomping on the Dick Sprang upbeat Batman and Azrael going down in defeat to Paul Pope’s Year 100 Batman. Now the question is, who is more beloved, the animated series Batman or Frank Miller’s old man Batman? The Batman of an alternate past or the Batman of an alternate future? The Batman of the movies or the Batman of the comics? And Batman in his early days, or Batman at his peak with the JLA? (OK, we probably all know how that one’s gonna go.)
As always, it isn’t just about who would be most likely win in each fight; it’s about who you want to win each fight and advance to the next round. Click the bracket thumbnail above to the side to see how the tournament has progressed so far. These polls will close just after midnight on Saturday, June 14th.
Dark Knight Batman vs. Animated Batman
Dark Knight Batman (41%)
Animated Batman (59%)
Total Votes: 335
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Year One Batman vs. Morrison Uber Batman
Year One Batman (59%)
Morrison Uber Batman (41%)
Total Votes: 332
Bob Kane Batman vs. Michael Keaton Batman
Bob Kane Batman (67%)
Michael Keaton Batman (33%)
Total Votes: 330
Gotham by Gaslight Batman vs. Year 100 Batman
Gotham by Gaslight Batman (59%)
Year 100 Batman (41%)
Total Votes: 322
I picked up Gotham by Gaslight from the 50-cent bin a while back, and I wasn’t that impressed–the twist was pretty predictable, and the darkness of the setting felt a little forced.
How do people think this has aged? Was it well-regarded when it came out?
09 Jun 2008 at 2:04 pm
QuoteThe first two were easy picks for me (Animated and Year One).
The third matchup was really, really hard though. The original version gets huge points for being, well, the original - plus rocking those purple gloves. And while Michael Keaton still wouldn’t be my first choice for casting, his movies *were* good. Not in Batman Begin’s league, but very enjoyable. And yes, I am a goth, why do you ask?
The last fight I had no basis for, having read neither story. I voted Gaslight. What can I say? Goth.
09 Jun 2008 at 2:51 pm
QuoteThese were easier choices for me, too. As much as I love Dark Knight the comic, the Animated Bats got it all right from beginning. Anything beats Uberbats to me so no brainer. The Original Bat will likely win the game for honoring the creator. That said, I think I have read all of 1 Kane-era Bat so I think my image of the Batman comes more from West (who lost already, dang it…) and then the Animated. I was a serious Marvel Zombie when a kid in the 70’s and 80’s and never clicked with the entire Bat oeuvre until the animated show made me get into it. Go Animated Bats!
Oh, and 100 or Gotham, this is their last round so there you go. I liked the Gotham story but would have gone Doom That Came To Gotham instead of this or 100.n Can’t go wrong with Lovecraftian Bat stories. Also, speaking of choices, I wonder why you had Azrael Batman (not really Batman…really…) instead of, say, using a slot of Doom That Came Batman or The Batman animated series vs the old Dini Batman series. I haven’t watched the new Batman series but heard it isn’t bad, especially now that it has been on for a few seasons.
09 Jun 2008 at 3:12 pm
QuoteI predict Animated Batman goes all the way. Fans are divided over their favorite comic run. Everyone seems to agree that the animated series was one of the best, most consistent takes on Batman ever.
09 Jun 2008 at 3:35 pm
QuoteI’d think guys like yourself would know enough to credit Bill Finger along with Bob Kane.
09 Jun 2008 at 5:45 pm
QuoteEveryone knows to credit Bill Finger for about half of everything.
But Bob Kane for the most part does get the “sole credit” for actually coming up with Bat-Man on his own and then having Finger come in with Robin, Joker, Batman tweaks, etc.
Oh and Animated Batman over DK Batman? Really? LOL maybe just based on popularity but anyone want to try to actually describe how?
09 Jun 2008 at 7:52 pm
QuoteSure… but that’s one hell of a long title to have in Rumble Pants, and fair or not, when people think of that Batman, they think of Bob Kane.
I mean, to be wholly accurate on Christian Bale and Michael Keaton, we’d want to credit (at least) David Goyer, Christopher Nolan, Sam Hamm and Tim Burton, but that’s a bit unwieldy. Morrison Uber-Bat should probably co-credit Howard Porter. Etc., etc.
It’s a shortcut, not an assignation of rights.
But I would have been shocked if someone hadn’t pointed it out, honestly. Kind of surprised it didn’t come up in the first round.
09 Jun 2008 at 10:04 pm
QuoteHell yeah. That’s easy. Animated Batman is young and at his peak, crime-fighting-wise. Dark Knight Batman is angry, bitter and old. More powerful? Maybe. More prone to mistakes, and physically easier to dominate? Definitely.
09 Jun 2008 at 10:05 pm
QuoteNew Batman series isn’t in there for two reasons. One is that I’ve never seen an episode. The other is, even if it is great, it was going to get stomped all to hell by the beloved Dini series.
As for Doom That Came To Gotham, much as I dug it, it’s more obscure than anything else in the first round. The only thing that comes close in terms of obscure would be Batman Year 100, and even that has the virtue of having been collected in trade. So it’s out, just like the Batman of the similarly out-of-print (and similarly awesome) Batman: Holy Terror.
Azrael Batman made it because like it or not, it’s a milestone for the character. And I’m glad it did, because it kind of made me happy to see that ’90s era punk stomped out by Paul Pope’s weirder, more interesting Year 100 Batman.
09 Jun 2008 at 10:08 pm
QuoteOddly enough, one of my favorite Batman versions is in only one story: The Batman/Planetary crossover. He’s only in it at the end for a couple pages, but his design & his not-so-angry attitude were appealing
10 Jun 2008 at 5:26 am
QuoteI don’t have my copy of this handy, but wasn’t that version essentially the purple-gloved sort of futuristic version of Bob Kane’s version? It was cool, though. I love that comic and it oddly enough the embodiment of this Rumble Pants.
10 Jun 2008 at 6:04 am
QuoteBut what if it was the animated Michael Ironside DK Batman?
10 Jun 2008 at 9:49 pm
QuoteI’m pulling for TAS Batman. It’s easily my favorite adaptation of the character.
11 Jun 2008 at 8:48 am
QuoteThe beauty of voting for the TAS Batman is that you are voting FOR the Michael Ironside DK Batman! TAS is all types of Batman. He is the “I gotta grappling hook gun and gadgets” but also the, “No, I prefer just a metal bat hook at the end of my bat rope” and the “I need a sidekick!” Batman or the ” I got no time for sidekicks.”
The TAS Batman is clearly the Batman for All Seasons.
11 Jun 2008 at 11:22 am
QuoteThese choices are all wrong - no Goddamn Batman? That’s a travesty.
11 Jun 2008 at 1:01 pm
QuoteC’mon, Greg… Goddamned Batman went down hard to the Uber Bat in the first round. I think that’s a justifiable choice.
11 Jun 2008 at 9:24 pm
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